A Real Challenge
by cartoonlovah101
Summary: While stargazing, James gets a case of the funk when he believes he has no purpose in life. But then some strange children come along and give him advice. Sometimes encouragement comes when you least expect it.
_**I don't own Codename: Kids Next Door. I do own James Uno. Also, this can be considered a slight au, depending on whether G:Knd happened or not.**_

 _ **And this is a one-shot. So enjoy.**_

…

A Real Challenge

James sat on the roof of the house as he gazed at the starry night sky. His parents were asleep and his sister was out on another KND mission. Luckily, no one saw the boy, so hopefully he could do a little stargazing without his parents finding out he was on the roof.

James sighed. It had been almost a month since his encounter with those mysterious people. He had gone back several times to see if he could catch a glimpse of them, but he had not seen them since. And since that old amusement park was torn down, hosts were trying to find a new place to host the C.A.K.E.D. Games.

James had considered participating-maybe if he won, his sister would pay more attention to him. And maybe give him the chance to join the Kids Next Door.

For the five years of his life James had been mocked by several kids about having no KND potential. His sister said he was too reckless. His cousin called him a baby. All the other older kids said he had no potential. He would only get in the way. And…they were right.

James had a habit of getting his friends and himself into trouble. From sneaking into that evil man's mansion, to toying with 2x4 technology, heck, there was a list of countless other things James got in trouble for.

His friends would try to reassure him, saying maybe someday they'll see his potential. But James thought they were just trying to be nice because they felt sorry for him.

He had no choice but to accept this fate: he will only be some little child with delusions of grandeur and adventure.

"It's all I am." James said to himself. "A reckless little boy who will never be as well recognized as the great Numbuh 1. I only escape danger by being reckless and lucky. But my luck is like ice cream. It won't last forever." He sighed. "If only I can avoid this terrible fate. But my recklessness will only do more damage. So I have no choice to resign."

"It's sad, isn't it?"

"Huh?" James said as he heard five mysterious unified voices. He turned his head, only to be met by five faces.

"AGH!" James cried, nearly falling off the roof. But then a hand grabbed James' shirt, and hoisted him up. James got a good look at the five people who were on his roof. There were five of them, three boys and two girls, and they appeared to be children, around his sister's age. One of them, a tall blonde girl, was holding James's collar in her hand. She set the kindergartener down.

"Uhh…thanks?" James said. The children gave him small, kid smiles, but James can't help but feel creeped out by their icy blue eyes (one of them had his eyes covered by his hair, yet James had a feeling his eyes were blue as well.)

"We must apologize for this…unexpected encounter." The children said. And they said it in a unified presence.

 _Kind of reminds me of the time me and my pals were talking in unison._ James thought.He couldn't help but notice the matching uniforms the children were wearing. The boys wore dark blue vests, with red ties and white undershirt, blue shorts, and brown sneakers with blue socks. The females wore white dresses, with light blue jackets, pink ties, pink socks and white Mary Jane's. One of the most interesting features he noticed was that one of the kids had a red football helmet on his head.

He had never seen these kids before. But he also could've sworn he saw them somewhere. But where?

"What's the matter?" the children said, a mischievous glint in their eyes as they gave out unified sly smiles. "Cat got you tongue?"

"Oh, uh, sorry." James said. "It's just…I don't think I've seen you around before, yet you look so familiar."

"We feel the same way too." The children said as they looked around the neighborhood. "Everything is so new around this place, yet we feel like we've been here a _long_ time." James couldn't help but notice their blue eyes shining with a hidden secret. But he shook it off.

"Well, I'm Uno. James Uno." James said as he introduced himself. "And you are?"

The children smiled in unison. Again, creepy. "We'd rather tell you when you're ready."

"Ready?" James asked. "Ready for what?"

"You'll see…" the children said with devious looks. James decided not to push it any further.

"So…what brings you on my roof?" James asked.

"Well, we were taking a little midnight stroll around the neighborhood when we happened to see you on the roof, staring at the stars." The children said. "At first, we almost considered calling an authority…" James gulped "…but after hearing your sad little rant on how you will always be some reckless little brat with no potential whatsoever, we can't help but sympathize with you."

James, who was slightly insulted for being called a brat, wasn't so sure he should talk to these kids. Yet he was curious. "And why do you sympathize with me?"

"Because we knew some children who went through the exact same thing you were going through. Only theirs had a tragic ending" They said. "They tried to fight through this 'issue' for a long time. Let's just say they were the prisoners of their own bodies. But eventually, they realized there was no way they could go back. And even if they could, they were never going to live their pathetic little lives the same way. So they had no choice but to accept that fate." The children said with a rather sinister chuckle.

James was getting nervous. The children were _really_ creeping him out. "But we can tell you are not like those children." They said to him sweetly. "You have potential. Some flaws, yes. But no one is perfect." They said. "Numbuh 1 wasn't perfect. Some of his mistakes were…grave. But he was always there to set things right. And the same thing can happen for you. As long as you never let your dreams go and you remember your place is with the ones you are most close too."

James was a bit shocked that such creepy children can have such wisdom.

"But what about what other people think?" James said. "All the older operatives say I'm no Numbuh 1."

"As you grow up, Jimmy, you can't help but feel a sense of superiority over those younger than you." The children said. "That can cloud you judgment and make you underestimate their inner strength. Something we learned a while ago."

"Oh…and don't call me Jimmy." James said. He swore despite their wise advice, they were mocking him. "So…are you saying there's a chance to prove myself? To show the other big kids they were wrong about me?"

The children nodded. "Precisely. But do it wisely, Jimmy. If you get way over your head, you may never get that chance." They said.

A boost of confidence rushed through James' veins as he stood up and gazed at the stars with a new light. He decided he _will_ participate in the C.A.K.E.D. Games and win to prove himself one and for all! But he wasn't gonna do it alone. He needed his pals. Kookaburra, Benny, Allison, and Jeh. He needed their help. Those children were right. Creepy, but right. As long as he knew where he really belonged, as long as he never let go of what he was fighting for, as long as his friends were by his side, he can do this. But there was one more thing he had to say…

"Can you _please_ stop calling me-" he said as he turned to face the children, only to realize they were gone. "-Jimmy?" He turned to see if he could catch a glimpse of them. But the children were nowhere in sight.

"Huh. Odd." He said. "Oh well. Time to get ready!" James said as he got down the ladder he used to get to the roof to plan for the C.A.K.E.D. Games.

Unknown to the child, the children were hiding behind the tree in his back yard. They smiled deviously as they watched the child enter his house.

Finally, after all these years of hiding, they had a _real_ challenge.

And they knew he would not disappoint.

 _ **And the encounter has happened! What do these children have in store for James? And can you guess who these 'prisoners of their own bodies' were? Also, I gave the children new outfits. I didn't think they'd want to go with their old designs forever.**_

 _ **Anyways, I'll be posting more one-shots as soon as I can. Cartoonlovah101 signing off 'till next time!**_


End file.
